Silent One
by Mariel1
Summary: Pace is exactly one year old, and he has yet to say his first word. The Family is worried, and justifiably so. Will he ever learn to speak? Part 13 of the Lucky Seven series.
1. Happy Birthday

"Silent One"

_Author's Note: For the most part, this story will revolve around Pace and his interactions with the Family. I don't own the Care Bears, and Soulful Heart Fox is owned by NebulaBelt. I only own Regal and Stellar, and their little family. Cheer Bear might be a little out of character, but she always struck me as the gossiping chatterbox type. This takes place around Pace's first birthday._

"Chapter 1: Happy Birthday"

This was a rather interesting day; though he had seen such days before, there had never been one that was held just for him. The Hall of Hearts was hung with multi-colored streamers, and balloons were tied to any and every object that was heavy enough not to float away. The birthday cake had a blue border, since the guest of honor's favorite color seemed to be blue. He couldn't read his own name on the cake, but he was transfixed by the dark blue curlicues that spelled out '_Patient Heart Liger'_. And every Bear and Cousin, with the exception of Soulful Heart Fox and Secret Bear, was singing.

"Happy birthday, dear Patient Heart, happy birthday to you!" sang the Care Bear Family as their youngest family member stared unblinkingly at the single candle that topped his birthday cake. He knew what to do, having attended other peoples' birthday parties before, but it seemed a shame to ruin such a pretty sight by putting out the flame.

"Blow out the candle, sweetie." Regal Heart prompted him gently. Pace smiled up at her, then he drew in a deep breath and blew out the tiny flame. Amid the cheering that followed, Regal heard Connie rub it in Chance's face that at least _Pace_ hadn't tried to eat _his_ candle. Chance responded by blowing his noisemaker in her ear, drawing from her a squall of protest.

"All right, you two." laughed Stellar as he began to cut the cake and pass out slices to the Family. "What kind of ice cream do you want, Pace?"

Pace, who was at the emotional age of six but had been around for exactly one year, tapped his chin for a moment before pointing to the carton of strawberry ice cream. He gave no verbal reply, and while no one commented on this it didn't go unnoticed. Cheer Bear exchanged a look with Harmony, and both of them sadly shook their heads, Cheer 'tsking' in pity.

"Who wants what kind of ice cream?" asked Stellar, who hadn't noticed the head-shaking.

"Chocolate, please." said Hope.

"Black raspberry." said Bright Heart, who then nudged his friend, "Soulful?"

"Vanilla." said Soulful, looking scornfully at Cheer Bear who, thankfully, was oblivious.

Despite all outward appearances, this wasn't a typical birthday party. The guest of honor had never uttered a word in his life, and since his sisters had started talking at three months of age this was rather worrying. Pace had been a strange baby. He hardly ever cried, except when he was in pain, which wasn't very often. He would scream bloody murder whenever No Heart was around, but for the most part he kept his own council. His parents had resorted to setting their alarm to go off every two hours at night so that he got his feedings, and they had even brought him to Take Care to make sure everything was all right. Aside from the fact that Pace was prone to athsma, Take Care could find nothing wrong with him.

It was inevitable that the rest of the Family would talk about it and speculate, but no one did so today; this wasn't the appropriate time for it, if there ever _was_ an appropriate time. Pace's parents and siblings were fiercely protective of him since No Heart had kidnapped him a year ago, and they tolerated no comments that suggested that Pace was of below-average intelligence.

Aside from his immediate family, the only ones who didn't seem worried were True Heart, Noble Heart, Grams Bear, Secret Bear, and Soulful Heart. All of them - with the exception of Secret and Soulful, who said very little - argued that Secret Bear rarely spoke at all, and when he did it was in a whisper or by signing his message with his paws. They asserted that Pace would speak when he was ready, and that was that.

Patient Heart wasn't unintelligent. Quite the opposite, he was in a constant state of observation, and he was able to convey his wishes easily enough. He got his point across when he was annoyed, too. Rather than throwing a tantrum he would take a passive-aggressive approach, leaving peanut shells, cracker crumbs, or candy wrappers around the house. Once he had left a handful of peppermint wrappers on Soulful Heart's pillow when the fox was babysitting and wouldn't let the cub climb on the furniture; Soulful hadn't minded it all that much, and said he preferred the wrappers to biting and hissing. If this was said around Connie, it was usually followed by a playful glare from the fox, and an equally-playful saucy comment from the liger.

When the time came for Pace to open his presents, he did something that brought smiles to several faces. He opened each card before opening each present, in stark contrast to other children who had to be reminded that the cards were even part of the package. And though he couldn't read the letters, he insisted on looking at every one. In truth, he was enjoying the pictures and the pretty cursive script, but for many it brought back memories of a favorite game he used to play when he was a toddler.

_The first time he did this was when Soulful Heart was babysitting him, and Regal and Stellar had just arrived to take him home. They stayed to talk for a few minutes, and while they were preoccupied with some grown-up chit-chat or other, Pace became bored and toddled over to one of Soulful's many bookshelves. Regal and Stellar suddenly stiffened when they saw Pace holding a large copy of Homer's _'The Iliad'_ in his tiny paws. Soulful followed their gaze, and his face became a mask of apprehension as visions of torn pages and scribbled-on covers danced through his mind._

_But destruction hadn't been Pace's intention. He had often seen Soulful Heart holding one of these strange paper things called 'books', but he simply couldn't see what the big attraction was. True, some of the covers were pretty, but a lot of them were ratty-looking and even a little moldy. Obviously very old, but still shown equal amounts of care as the pretty new ones.. So it couldn't be because of their outer coverings. The secret must be inside..._

_And so, little Pace had sat himself down on the floor and carefully opened the book, staring fixedly at its pages. He was blissfully unaware of his parents' exclamations of how 'cute' it was, though he looked up when he heard Soulful Heart give a rare chuckle. Though Pace had no way of knowing it, the book was upside-down. Taking the adults' reactions as permission to continue, Pace heaved a satisfied sigh and pretended to pore over the contents of one of Soulful's precious books. He didn't even look up when his mother took a picture..._

_Of course, there was one little drawback to Pace's sudden deep respect for books; the mistreatment of anything that resembled a book, from a stack of napkins to a newspaper, greatly upset him. Stellar quickly learned that if he wanted to put his paper in their recycling bin, he had to do it when Pace wasn't around or the cub would cry inconsolably until the paper was fished out. This gradually stopped when Pace learned that newspapers, in fact, were not books._

The party eventually dispersed, and those who didn't have anything pressing to do stayed to help clean up. Pace was found sleeping among the pile of discarded wrapping paper. Stellar smiled, and lifted his son in his arms. Pace moved his head sleepily, but kept his eyes closed.

"Poor fella's exhausted." chuckled Stellar, "The others conked out on their first birthdays too, remember, Regs?"

"Yeah," she chuckled as she began gathering up the wrapping paper and stuffing it into a garbage bag, "with cake on their faces and melted ice cream in their fur."

"Not with Pace." said Connie, pointing to the cub's clean face. Patient Heart Liger was very firm on being clean. When he had begun to walk he would take a step, lift his other foot and dust it off, then take a step with that one before repeating the process. He stopped doing this when it proved to be too tedious, but he almost never walked where he was sure to get dirty feet. Regal Heart had taped him doing this, and Pace would point to himself on the TV as if seeing himself on the screen was an amazing trick.

Connie was clearing some dirty paper plates and napkins from the table when she heard Cheer Bear talking to Harmony Bear. She knew better than to eavesdrop, and she was beginning to move off so as to give them their privacy when she heard Cheer mention Pace's name. She paused, then sidled a little bit closer once more, making a show of wiping the table with a damp cloth.

"He's just the sweetest little boy." Cheer was saying, her voice low but not low enough, "It's such a shame..."

"Hush!" Harmony told her, "He's just a late bloomer, that's all. He'll talk. Eventually..."

"I hope so." said Cheer, "Though he was always a little - "

"A little _what?_" asked Connie, in a would-be nonchalant voice.

Cheer Bear jumped guiltily, and continued, "I was going to say, he was always a little _shy_." Which was the truth, but unfortunately it was easy to jump to the wrong conclusion.

"Uh-huh..." Connie said dryly.

Cheer blushed, embarrassed at being caught talking about Pace, angry at herself for being so inconsiderate, and annoyed at Connie for overhearing. "I _was_. Didn't Regal ever teach you that it isn't right to eavesdrop on private conversations?"

Connie's eyebrows lifted in a patently innocent expression. "Oh, that was a _private_ conversation? My bad. Though, I must say, _private_ conversations should be reserved for _private_ settings, not public ones. And my mother also informed me that only a broody hen gossips!" And with that, she spun on her heel and left the Hall of Hearts.

Cheer gaped in shock, and when she finally found her voice, all that came out was an indignant, "_Well!_"

"She's right, Cheer..." murmured Harmony, not wanting to draw anyone's attention.

"Well, I didn't mean anything _by_ it..." said Cheer, looking remorseful.

Soulful Heart, who took no pains to hide the fact that he himself had been eavesdropping, snorted, "No, no, you never do."

Cheer nearly jumped out of her skin; she hadn't seen him standing there. "I beg your pardon?"

The fox did not deign to explain himself. He went to join Bright Heart and Gentle Heart by the punch bowl, flicking his tail dismissively at the bears.

Stellar didn't see or hear what happened, he only saw his daughter stalking out of the building. He heard Cheer whispering to Harmony, something about 'rude foxes', but when he gave the pink bear a questioning look she merely bit her lip and went back to cleaning up the refreshment tables. The tiger turned to his wife, nodded for her to take Pace, then handed his son over. Pace immediately opened his eyes and pointed to the floor, indicating that he wanted to be put down. Regal did so, and Pace giggled as his father ruffled his mane. Then, drawing in a deep breath as if preparing himself for an unpleasant undertaking, Stellar Heart went out to find his eldest daughter.

And find her he did, but he didn't approach. Connie was speaking with Tugs, who was making placating gestures with his paws. Stellar watched them for several minutes before Noble Heart tapped him on the shoulder, making him yelp. "Ah! Yes?"

Noble Heart chuckled. "You're still so jumpy!"

Stellar blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched his daughter being calmed by the boy-cub he had watched grow up into a fine example of a Care Bear. He sighed, folding his arms and leaning against the doorjamb.

"This is a very familiar scene." Noble Heart smiled.

"How so?" asked Stellar, who was feeling decidedly left out.

The purple horse looked on as Tugs finally coaxed a smile to Connie's face, and said, "The day you joined the Family, Brave Heart was just as leery of you being near his sister as you are of any male your daughters happen to show an interest in."

Stellar snickered wryly, and replied, "I figured that out for myself when he stared at me like I was a pond-critter under a microscope. But...this isn't quite the same. I mean..."

"What?" asked Noble Heart.

Stellar sighed, and mumbled, "She...won't always need me. She hardly needs me as it is. I know it's stupid, but it just seems unfair that Tugs can fix something and I can't..."

Noble Heart nodded sympathetically. "I know. It was the same with all _my_ little cubs. None of them are mine by blood, but I helped to raise them. It's hard to watch them grow up and leave...But in the end, you have to let them go."

The tiger smiled sadly, and if Noble Heart didn't know any better, he could swear he even got a little misty-eyed. "Yes...but not yet. Not today."

"No..." Noble Heart said softly, "Not today. Now, let's go inside before she sees us and tries to dispute that!"

Stellar heartily agreed to that, and the two of them turned to go back inside. Stellar nearly tripped over Pace, who was standing right behind him. "Patient Heart!" Stellar glowered playfully, "Are you trying to give your poor dad a heart attack?"

The cub giggled and hugged his father tightly around the waist. The tiger lifted him easily, settling his son's slight weight on his hip as they headed inside.

"Besides," said Noble Heart, sounding uncharacteristically serious, "I have a few things to say to Cheer Bear."

"Oh?" the tiger raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing for you to worry about." said Noble Heart, chucking Pace lightly under the chin as he addressed the tiger, "I just need to remind her of something..."

* * *

"I still don't see why_ I _should apologize, Tugs..." Connie groused, though she was in a better mood now. "I'm not sorry. Wouldn't that be lying?"

Tugs tapped her lightly on the nose. "You're missing the point, Con. Yes, she was a little out of line, but she wasn't trying to be cruel. She _does_ care about Pace. She's worried about him."

"I know..." she sighed.

The light blue bear smiled playfully, winking at her. "Besides, would it be _that_ big a blow to your considerable pride if you were to simply smooth over a 'broody hen's' ruffled feathers?"

She smirked. "How long have you known me?"

"Since we were both in diapers, _that's_ how long. Come on..." he wheedled, "I'll stop bugging you if you do."

Her smirk turned into a grin. "Who said you were bugging me?"

Tugs quirked an eyebrow, and before she could stop him he had her in a headlock and was tickling her. Ignoring her shrieks of protest, he said, "Promise you will, and I'll let you go!"

"No!" she cried petulantly, laughing hard.

"Promise me..." he tickled her neck.

"Aah! Okay, okay! Uncle! _Uncle!_" she broke free and shoved him to the clouds, where he merely sat and laughed at her. "All right, smarty...but don't think I'll forget this."

"Of course not." he giggled, getting to his feet and steering her pointedly in the direction of the Hall of Hearts.

_More to come..._


	2. Troubled Mind

"Silent One"

_Author's Note: Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter up soon. I'm having trouble with my laptop's power cord, and I'm having to borrow my dad's cord during those short stretches when he isn't playing online poker, lol. Oh, if anyone's interested, a friend of mine has tentative plans to start a Care Bears flash video series. For more information, go to "The Memories Board". The topic will be under "Care Bears". I tried pasting the URL here, but this site wouldn't show it for some reason. I didn't see anything in the FFN rules about advertising this kind of thing, but if I missed that rule I hope someone tells me, rather than reporting me, so that I can take it off. Thank you._

"Chapter 2: Troubled Mind"

Hope saw them coming, and as usual she felt a hollow sense of loss sweep over her. The fact that her sister was holding hands with him wasn't lost on her. She was only glad her father wasn't there to see it. Even though it was unlikely that he would comment on it, Stellar would spend the next hour or so looking pouty if he had seen. Hope, on the other hand, felt that she was rather good at covering up her discomfort. All the same, it didn't seem fair. It wasn't that she was in love with Tugs; what she had felt for him when they were younger was merely a crush, but Connie seemed to snap him up before she even had a chance to see if a crush could turn into something more. There wasn't exactly an abundance of unattached males up there, and the only one who didn't see her as a much-loved niece was Tugs. He certainly didn't seem to be up for grabs now. The sisters hadn't fought about it, but when it came out that Hope liked him, things were awkward between the three of them for several months.

But not anymore, thankfully. Not really. The three of them were back to the way they usually were, good friends all around. Besides, she wasn't really in a hurry to get together with someone. She merely wondered what she might be missing.

Hope jumped a bit when a furry little paw curled itself around her fingers, but she quickly relaxed when she heard her little brother's amused giggle. "You sneaking up on me, Pacie?"

Pace shook his head, still giggling. His short mane was sticking up a little, and Hope absently smoothed it down again. She wished she could cure her brother Chance of calling Pace 'Mullet Man', but she supposed he could have come up with a worse nickname. She knew their uncle Brave Heart sometimes called Chance 'Butch' as a joke, but the names 'Larry', 'Curly', or 'Moe' would have fit better, in her humble opinion.

"Did you have a good birthday?" she asked, masking her disappointment when his only answer was a nod and a smile. "Good..."

Hope saw Connie talking to Cheer Bear, and she saw the two of them hug briefly, though Connie obviously backed away before Cheer was ready to let go. While Connie wasn't opposed to hugging, she didn't like to do it after an argument. It was as if she thought that hugging her former 'opponent' diminished her standing in the matter. At least there wasn't going to be a serious argument tonight, but Hope wondered if the day would come when Connie would really take offence and let someone have it.

Patient Heart gave no outward signs that he suspected something was wrong, but he could feel the tension in the air. It was diminishing, but it as still there, and he suspected that it had something to do with him. Gradually, as the minutes wore on and the feeling still lingered, the cheerful smile faded from his face, and he grew tired and sulky. It was getting late, and he was growing restless. He wanted to go home and sleep, if only to get away from the thinly veiled hurt feelings that he sensed he might be the cause of. He wandered over to his pile of presents, and searched for something that would hold his attention until it was time to go home. Sifting through the action figures and various Nerf toys, he found what he wanted at last and picked up a book. He had gotten several picture books and two small chapter books, and this was the one on top of the pile. He couldn't remember who had given it to him, but he was feeling too lazy to dig through the pile and look at the rest of them.

It was a rather pretty book, with a colorful hologram cover and nice pictures inside. There was a young lady dressed in peasant rags, and watching over her from a high balcony with a look of disdain was a beautiful queen. The pictures reminded him of a story he thought he ought to know, but then again, fairy tales were a dime a dozen. Flipping forward until he was nearly at the end, (which he didn't realize he wasn't supposed to do) he saw that the cruelly beautiful queen was standing in a dark, cobweb-ridden dungeon. His heart made a sickening flutter in his chest, and his mouth went cotton-dry. The queen was reading from a book, and standing over...over...

"Aaah!" Pace quickly shut the book and ran, shrieking, to his mother.

Regal whipped around at the sound of his cries, and quickly scooped him up. "What's the matter, Pacie? Did you hurt yourself?"

The sobbing cub shook his head, burying his face in her shoulder. The picture that set him off was a drawing of the queen, now an old crone in a cowl and robes, standing over a cauldron and dipping a rosy red apple into the bubbling poison. He didn't understand why it had upset him, but the last time he had been this terrified he had been too young to remember anything other than the fear.

While her parents and the rest of the Family were fussing over Pace and trying to soothe him, Connie had the sense to go to his pile of gifts and pick up the book he had dropped. "Huh...'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'?" she mumbled to herself, opening the book and flipping through it, the tip of her tongue between her teeth as she searched for an image that might have frightened him so. And then she found it. She knew it had to be this particular picture, and her heart sank. All hopes she had that he hadn't retained any memory of his kidnapping were promptly dashed to pieces. She turned and brought the book over. "Pace?"

Pace looked over at her, still hiccuping slightly, and his eyes went round as he caught sight of the book. He shook his head violently, and Connie handed the book over to her father.

"Pace," whispered Connie, taking her brother from Regal, "it's only a story. It's pretend. It can't hurt you."

The cub gave her a look that was close to a glare, his eyes saying plainer than any words, '_But it _is_ hurting me, right now!_'

"It can't be the book," said Cheer Bear, "he must be tired. He probably nodded off with the book in his paws, and had a nightmare. Look at him, he's yawning right now."

Which was true. Pace, having finally realized that he wasn't in any real danger, had opened his mouth in a jaw-splitting yawn.

"I think he - " Connie began, but her father interrupted her.

"Well, it's past his bedtime. We really should get going. Everyone, thanks for coming." Stellar said politely, obviously buying Cheer's explanation.

"But - " Connie tried again.

"Can you take him out to the car, honey?" asked Stellar.

"I - " she said, beginning to look miffed.

"No buts, Connie, we need to get him home and put him to bed. He's had a busy day." Stellar told her, walking off to say his family's goodbyes.

The liger bit her lip and sighed, shaking her head. "Nobody _ever_ listens to me..."

Pace, who was perfectly capable of walking on his own, didn't trust his legs to work just yet if she put him down. Partly to make sure she couldn't do that, and partly to show that he understood what she was feeling, he tightened his grip and buried his muzzle into her shoulder with a sigh.

Connie had to smile. "You and me both, pal...let's go." She carried her brother out to the car, buckling him in and sitting beside him. "You know..." she said conversationally, knowing full well that he could understand her quite perfectly, "I wish I knew why you refuse to talk."

Pace looked down, sighing. He wanted to explain, but...

"I know you _can_, if you want to. But you _don't_ want to. Do you?" she asked gently. He shook his head, and she asked, "Why not?"

He glowered at her. She was trying to trick him into speaking, but it wasn't that easy.

"You used to babble a bit when you were a baby...and I swear I heard you whispering to yourself once, but it didn't make any sense, like it was gibberish or something." she continued.

"Mmm..." he complained, leaning against the car door and closing his eyes.. How could he possibly explain it to her when he had never verbally explained anything? His earliest memories were feelings of shock and despair, and such paralyzing terror that he had felt the after effects of it for several months. When he passed the stage where he should have been saying 'Mama' and 'Dada', his Family began to talk. _Right in front of him_. At first he had paid it no mind, but in time he shook off his numbness and learned to understand their words. That was when he knew that they were worried something was wrong with him. They never said anything unkind, or anything that was _meant_ to be unkind, but he soon began to take offense at the word 'mute'. And he grew to loathe the phrase 'It's such a shame'. And so, his first truly conscious decision was that he would _never_ speak. At least, not where anyone could hear him. When he was supposed to be asleep, sometimes he would whisper to himself; no words, but the various consonants and vowels. He saw no harm in learning that, because he knew he just _might_ change his mind someday and decide to speak. So, he made sure he was ready for when and if that day came. He knew that the letter 'C' made a 'kuh' sound, or sometimes a 'suh' sound, and it just grew from there. That's what Connie must have heard. He decided to be more careful in the future.

But a lingering doubt remained, one that surfaced in such a way that night that he was thrown into a fit of hysterics at the sight of a drawing; '_What's wrong with me?_' If he had been able to write, and was asked to write his reason for not talking, he would have written 'Because I don't want to', or nothing at all. But it was really more than a matter of wanting or not wanting to speak. Now that he had been so long without speech, he didn't know if it was possible for him to suddenly open his mouth and make words. He knew he had the ability, but the way he liked to keep a low profile, he didn't know if he had the courage. Fear had prevented him from talking, and tonight he realized that it hadn't just been the fear of being on the spot, but something much more unpleasant. But what _was_ that something? He sighed, his frustration melting away into fatigue.

* * *

Soon it was time to go home, and Pace somehow found the energy to go upstairs and draw himself a bath. He hadn't been doing this for very long, only a few months, but after burning his paw once he was very careful to remember to turn on the cold water first. He wished he was tall enough to reach the shower cloud and activate it with a poke, but he was already at the point where he didn't want any kind of assistance at bath time. Pace didn't really need a bath, but he wanted one anyway. The warm water always comforted and relaxed him, and he needed to relax. For some reason, he felt very cold. The water was as hot as he could stand it as he lowered himself into the tub, but the chill seemed to come from his very bones. He ran his paws through his mane, trying to decide whether or not he wanted to wash it tonight, when his finger snagged on a tangle near his bangs. He gave a soft whimper, then shuddered and whipped his paws away from his head. He sat hugging his knees and shivering for half an hour before his mother knocked on the half-closed door. 

"Come on, you've been in there long enough. It's time for bed." she called.

Pace sighed, not wanting to leave the tub, but he was as clean as he was going to get and the warm water wasn't helping much. He pulled out the rubber plug, and dried himself off before coming out to meet his mother.

Regal looked concerned, and knelt down so that she was at eye level with him. "Pace?"

She didn't get any further than that before Pace flung his arms around her neck and hugged her tightly, much more tightly than he did for their normal good-night hug. Was he shaking?

"Pace? Sweetheart, are you all right?" she asked gently.

Pace nodded, and he did feel a little better now. He gave her a peck on the cheek and went to hug his father, who had just come up behind them.

"Happy birthday, Pace." Stellar said warmly, watching the cub trudge off to bed. Pace had recently protested at being tucked in at night, feeling that he was getting too old for it. It was with misgivings that Regal let him go. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something had gotten her hackles up.

"Something isn't right..." she said as Stellar slipped an arm around her shoulders.

"He's just tuckered out, Regs." he replied, kissing her forehead, "He had a big night."

Regal ducked under his arm and leaned against the wall. "I think it's more than that. Something set him off tonight, and Connie was trying to tell us about it. I think we should have listened to her."

The tiger looked regretful, but he said nothing. He knew Connie had been trying to say something, but he had been more concerned about getting Pace home so that the cub could relax. It was too late now, and Pace seemed a lot better.

"A few minutes ago, Connie told me it was a picture in that 'Snow White' book he got from Cheer Bear," she continued, "and she thinks that's what scared him."

"Which picture?" asked Stellar.

Regal's mouth stretched in a wry line, and she said, "She just thrust the book in my hands and told me to look for it. She tried to tell us earlier, but we didn't listen. I don't blame her for being annoyed."

"She shouldn't talk to you like that." Stellar said darkly, but Regal made a 'let it be' gesture.

"It doesn't matter. I think it was the picture of the wicked queen as the old crone." she went and got it, and flipped to the appropriate page. "There." she pointed.

Stellar took the book, and it didn't take him long to realize. "Ohh no...He remembers."

"Maybe. Maybe not. We won't know if he can't tell us." she said, taking the book and setting it on a shelf. "So...what should we do?"

Stellar knew a hint when he heard one; she had something in mind, and she wanted to compare her idea with his. "Check on him every so often tonight. And leave our door open, just in case."

She smiled, and kissed him. "Great minds think alike."

* * *

As tired as Pace was, sleep was a long time in coming. He still couldn't shake the feeling of 'cold' that had come over him earlier, and he wondered if he might be getting the flu, like last month. He had gotten chills then too, but he had felt hot at the same time. His muscles didn't ache now, he just felt...cold. Careful not to make any noise, he got out of bed and tip-toed over to his dresser, turning on his fiber-optic flower arrangement. He was immediately cheered by the softly alternating colors, and he decided to give sleep another try. He got back into bed, pulling the blankets up to his chin, and stared unblinkingly at the dresser as the colors each took their turns in the light; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, red... 

His eyelids began to droop, and he didn't fight it. When his mother came in to check on him, he was sound asleep. Regal smiled a little, and tucked his favorite teddy bear into the crook of his arm before kissing his forehead. "G'night, Birthday Boy..."

She turned and walked out of the room, leaving the fiber-optic flowers on in case he woke up and got scared. Had she stayed a moment longer, she would have seen Pace's forehead crinkle in a frown as his dream began.

_It was cold. He lay on the altar, too small and weak to even roll over on his own. His throat was sore from crying, but he wasn't crying now; at the moment, he wasn't being threatened by anything. His captor was still in the room, if the quiet movements he heard were any indication, but at the moment the big creature's attention was on something else. Pace opened his eyes and saw nothing but a dim orange light playing on the stone ceiling. What was that bitter smell? There was the sound of footsteps, and two glowing red lights appeared, hovering over his face. Though he didn't know the word for them, it took him only a moment to realize that these were _eyes_. His sensitive nose told him that this was his kidnapper, but he could do nothing at all when a bluish hand seized a lock of his mane. There was a faint, sharp pain as a knife sawed through the hair, and he whined and tried to turn his head away._

_No Heart walked slowly back to his cauldron and dropped the curl of hair into the potion. Pace heard him muttering, but he couldn't make out the words. Whatever they were, they didn't sound like they were of the English language. Either way, they were too indistinct for him to catch._

_He heard the raw screaming of a terrified infant, and he realized that he was hearing himself. Whatever No Heart was doing, it had something to do with him, and he didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. The stink of the potion stung his tender nose and made his eyes water, not that they weren't watering already. _

_There was a flare of blue from the vicinity of the cauldron, then everything went a dull orange once more. Pace could almost feel a set of invisible shackles forming around his very heart, but he didn't know what they would do. He didn't know..._

_Then he heard his sister's voice; it was Connie. No Heart turned, his concentration broken. And the invisible shackles around Pace's heart disintegrated. The incomplete spell was broken, and he relaxed..._

Pace's eyes snapped open and he opened his mouth to scream, but his chest was spasming so badly that he could hardly even draw a breath. '_I remember..._' he thought. He tumbled out of bed, staring around his room and panting, fully expecting to see No Heart emerge from the shadows in search of vengeance. But he saw nothing that shouldn't have been there. His night light was still burning brightly, and his little shelf of picture books still stood in its appointed spot. On his dresser he saw his fiber-optic flowers, revolving and changing colors within the clear plastic box. Pace walked over to it, and stood before his dresser. Bright Heart had given the fiber-optic flowers to him a week ago, saying that he knew he should save it for the party but that he just couldn't wait to see the look on Pace's face.

Pace stared at it, remembering how mesmerizing it had been that first night, how he had fallen asleep while watching the colors change. He barely remembered doing so tonight, and that was rather unsettling; that should have been fresh in his mind, and the first night should have been vague and dream-like. But it seemed that his dream had taken center stage, blotting out everything else. He reached for the switch and turned it off. It was pretty, but it couldn't calm him. Not after what he had just seen. What he had just _remembered_. But had he really remembered it, or was it just a dream? He turned back to his room, and shivered. Suddenly it seemed very big. The shadows on the wall, which had given him some amusement during other sleepless nights, now seemed foreboding and sinister. The window shade was up, and Pace couldn't reach it to close it!

"Mm!" Pace moaned, pressing his back against his dresser. He so expected to see No Heart's glowing eyes in the window that he almost _had_ seen them.

"Pace?" came a voice from the doorway.

"Aah!" Pace yelped, dropping to his knees and covering his head.

"Pace, it's me!" exclaimed Stellar, kneeling by his son and pulling him close. "It's me..."

Pace buried his face against his father and shook, and Stellar was alarmed at how fast his little heart was beating. "What happened, Pace? I heard you get up...did you have a bad dream?" he asked, gently rubbing his back in slow, soothing circles.

The cub nodded, feeling comforted but shaking still. He pointed to the window, and Stellar looked but didn't see anything. Pace made a 'pulling-down' motion, and Stellar understood and nodded. Getting to his feet once more, he looked out the window to make sure there was nothing out there before closing the shade. "It's safe."

Pace looked unconvinced, and Stellar turned the light on and sat him on the bed. "It's safe...I promise. There's no one out there except for Bedtime Bear. His day's just getting started. You're not afraid of 'Old Sleepy', are ya?" he grinned, gently nudging the cub's chin with his fist. Pace saw the truth in his eyes and shook his head with a small giggle. Stellar got one of Pace's new birthday books from his little book shelf, and since Pace's bed was up against the wall, Stellar used the wall as a back rest. He opened his arm invitingly, and Pace smiled and scooted closer. Leaning against his father, he didn't feel cold anymore.

"Now..." Stellar opened the book, " '_Peter Pan. Chapter 1; Peter Breaks Through. All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this...' _"

Although Pace had resolved to stay awake the rest of the night, it wasn't long before he found himself drifting off to sleep. It was sometime during the description of Tinker Bell that he finally let sleep claim him. It wasn't until Stellar heard a soft snore that he realized his son was no longer paying attention. "Pace?" he asked softly. No answer. Stellar marked their place in the book and put it down on the floor, then he carefully lifted his son and tucked him in once more. Pace never even moved, which only showed how tired he was. Stellar put the book back on the shelf, and stood by his son's bedside for several moments with his arms folded across his chest. This was how Regal found him, after waking up alone and wondering what was up.

"Stellar?" she whispered. "Everything okay?"

The tiger nodded, and turned off the light on his way out to meet her. "Yeah, everything is now. He just had a nightmare, that's all. I read to him for a while, and he went right back to sleep."

"Are you sure he's okay?" she asked.

He smiled, "He's fine, Regs."

The lioness nodded, and they headed for their own bedroom. "I just wish he could tell us about it when this happens..."

"He's fine, honey...He'll start talking in his own time."

Regal sighed, and dared to broach the subject that they themselves hadn't mentioned before, at least not directly. They had danced around the topic, but had never asked the blunt question, "But...what if he doesn't?"

Stellar involuntarily laid back his ears, and sighed as well. "Then he and the rest of us will have to learn another way to communicate."

"Well, I'm worried..." she said.

"You think I'm not?" he asked, a little testily. Regal flinched, and he mentally kicked himself as he hugged her. "I'm sorry...I know you're worried about him, I am too...But if he doesn't speak it won't be the end of the world. We're blessed...compared to some others in this world. Even _not_ comparing ourselves to anyone else, we're blessed. He's healthy, and for the most part he's happy. And he's very smart, that's obvious. He _knows_ what we say, he just can't answer."

"Oh, I know...I'm sorry. I know all that." Regal said, squeezing him about the waist and kissing his cheek. "Don't mind me. I'm just tired, we all are; it's been a busy day."

"Yeah..." Stellar nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Let's get to bed, so we're fresh when we tackle tomorrow."

_To Be Continued..._


	3. A Change of Heart

"Silent One"

_Author's Note: This really isn't one of my better chapters, in my opinion, but I still had fun writing it. It's a shortie, but it ties up a loose end or two. Hope you enjoy it._

"Chapter 3: A Change of Heart"

Pace awoke early the next morning and padded over to his window to tug on the shade, making it flip up and roll with a flapping sound. He stood on tip-toe to gaze out and to assess the weather, and found it to be a cloudless morning. As he watched, Bedtime Bear brought his car in for a landing; the Cloudmobile dissipated into nothing, and the blue bear practically staggered down the road towards Care-a-Lot. Pace smiled to himself as he watched him go. Danger always seemed more likely to happen at night, when people were in their beds and unaware...At least, that was how it seemed to him. Now, as he looked out his window and saw nothing more sinister than an exhausted Care Bear heading home for bed, Pace felt rather silly at having been so scared the night before. While the rest of the Family slept, Bedtime Bear was out and about.

Regal Heart walked in, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "G'morn'n..." she mumbled. She was wearing a yellow nightshirt, and on the front of it in big black letters it said, 'No coffee, no workee'. Since she wasn't a morning person, that suited her perfectly. She saw that the shade was rolled up and slightly crooked, and sighed. "Pace, you know you're not supposed to do that."

Pace lost his smile and looked down sadly, and Regal couldn't find it in herself to scold him further.

"C'mon, let's go make breakfast. Wanna help?" she asked.

Pace nodded eagerly; he was hungry. The two of them headed downstairs, and the smell of brewing coffee told them that Stellar was already up...or so they thought. Upon entering the kitchen, Regal Heart snickered. Stellar was sitting at the kitchen table with his head down on one arm, and clasped loosely in his other paw was the handle of a half-empty coffee mug. What Regal had at first taken to be the sound of the coffee percolator was actually his snoring.

"Stellar, wake up. Your coffee's getting cold." she told him.

"After the game..." he mumbled.

Regal tittered and gave him a gentle shake. "What game?"

He forced one eye open, and frowned in confusion. "Huh? What're you talking about?"

She rolled her eyes, and lifted his chin in her paw. "Nothin', hon. You were dreaming. How do you feel about pancakes?"

The tiger yawned wider than she would have thought possible, showing the slightly pointed canines that were usually hidden, and nodded. "Sounds good to me. Are the others up yet?"

Regal shook her head, and took a carton of eggs from the refrigerator. Pace walked under her arm without having to duck, and grabbed a bag of miniature chocolate chips. "What're those for, Pacie?"

Stellar craned his neck to look, then raised his coffee mug to his lips. "Chocolate chip pancakes." he said, before draining the rest of his coffee in three swallows.

While his mother was getting breakfast started, Pace went up to Chance's room and poked him lightly on the shoulder. Chance suddenly grabbed him by the arms and pulled him into a headlock. "Gotcha!" he growled, giving Pace a noogie. Pace squirmed indignantly, pinching his brother's forearm. Chance let him go with a slight hiss, and shook his paw to rid himself of the slight sting. "Okay, I deserved that," he laughed, "Time to get up, huh?"

Pace nodded, his expression comically stern as he pointed to the door, and Chance got out of bed with a jovial laugh. "You win, pally. Let's go wake up the girls."

It didn't take long to get Hope out of bed, but as usual Connie decided to be difficult. Pace knocked several times, and each time he got the same reply; "_What?_" The cub opened his mouth as if to answer, but his throat seemed to close. He looked appealingly up at Chance, who winked conspiratorially as he cleared his throat. Lowering his voice, Chance imitated their father almost perfectly. "Contrary Heart Liger, if you don't get out of bed this minute, I'm coming in there to pour cold water on you!" Pace giggled, and Chance bit into his paw to stifle a laugh as he heard Connie scrambling out of bed and muttering angrily to herself.

Yanking open the door, Connie growled, "Listen Dad, I have a good mind to..._Chance!_ I'm gonna kick your stripy little butt!"

"Whoo-hoo!" Chance crowed, giving Pace a 'high four'. "We got her! I'm still the king!"

"Well, go someplace else before I crown you..." she muttered, edging past him and ruffling Pace's mane on her way. Pace smoothed down his mane again, then his nostrils twitched as he caught the faint scent of chocolate. Breakfast! He followed Connie down, ignoring Chance's gloating and Hope's sigh.

Later that morning he watched wistfully as his brother and sisters headed out to report to the Hall of Hearts, and his heart sank when he saw his father getting ready to leave as well. He knew the people of Earth needed them, but the days seemed longer when he had to stay behind. He watched his parents exchange a goodbye kiss, and he accepted his father's hug. Then he prepared himself for another day of boredom.

One thing that bothered him was that he wasn't going to school. Regal and Stellar had spoken to Bright Heart, but the raccoon still seemed to be on the fence about it. In many ways, Pace seemed to be very intelligent for his age. On the other hand he hadn't spoken yet, and he seemed too withdrawn at times. The fact of the matter was that Bright Heart simply didn't know how to approach the matter. There were people on Earth who were trained to teach children who couldn't speak, but it was unclear why Pace wouldn't talk. Bright Heart was convinced that Pace _could_ talk if he really wanted to, but until he did there was nothing Bright Heart could do. This hadn't made Regal or Stellar happy at all, but Bright Heart still advised them to wait. He believed it was a matter of the psyche, and until more was learned he didn't feel comfortable forcing lessons on the cub.

Not that he would have had to force Pace to sit through one of his classes. No school meant no reading. Pace wanted to read on his own, and he didn't want to always have to rely on his parents to read to him. It made him feel...well, childish. Not one to accept 'no' for an answer where one of her children was concerned, Regal took matters into her own paws and began giving him reading lessons. She had taught people how to read before, so she was confident she would be able to teach her son as well.

"Ready for your reading lesson?" she asked as he sat listlessly by the window. He perked up immediately and nodded, and the lesson began.

* * *

"**_Beastly!_**" No Heart bellowed, throwing down an empty glass beaker so that it shattered, and watching as his cauldron bubbled over. Pink froth surrounded the black metal pot, threatening to lap over the sorcerer's shoes. "That was the wrong vial! Now I shall have to dump it out and start all over!" 

Beastly peeked cautiously in, hoping he wasn't in _too_ much trouble. He tried to duck back out before No Heart could spot him, but someone shoved him roughly from behind. "Quit it, Shrieky!" he whined.

The teenager curled her lip at the mess, and shoved him again. "My uncle called you, furball. What exactly did you bring him?"

"It _looked _like the right one...maybe I need glasses..." Beastly mused, rubbing his chin and watching No Heart keenly for the tell-tale 'warning signs' of an impending tantrum.

Shrieky gaped at the ever-expanding sea of pink bubbles, and shook her head in wonderment. "I haven't seen anything like it since the time we terrorized the guests at a Howard Johnson's hotel...Remember that? You poured a bottle of 'Mr. Bubble' into the Jacuzzi..."

"How could I forget!" moaned Beastly, "The cops came and you tried turning them all into toads, but your spell hit me instead..."

"And _I_ had to rescue the two of you, though why I bothered is beyond me!" yelled No Heart, "You, Beastly, are an absolute _disgrace!_" He turned to Shrieky, who was smirking at the little creature in a superior manner, and said, "And you...I have yet to see one of your spells succeed on a human! How? How can a niece of mine be such a failure?"

Shrieky paled, then flushed red. '_Consider the source, you arrogant son of a jackal..._' she thought, showing her teeth in a brief sneer as she turned her back and left the room. She knew better than to say those things out loud.

"I...I'll clean this up." Beastly offered weakly, but No Heart waved him away.

"Just get out of my sight, you little rodent..."

Beastly didn't have to be told twice. He made himself scarce, idly stomping on any bug he happened to encounter in the corridors, and wondered when his punishment would come. No Heart was busy with some spell or other, and until he either completed it or failed, it was unlikely that he would pay attention to anything else. As soon as he was finished, however, he was sure to track Beastly down and punish him. As he tried to think of a way to avoid this, Beastly remembered the tiny cub that No Heart had kidnapped a year ago. He no longer worried that No Heart would try to kill the cub, since he had attempted a spell instead the last time. So, it was without a second thought that Beastly set out to recapture him. Perhaps No Heart would go easy on him then...

* * *

Pace was sitting on the back porch, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, when he saw a Cloudmobile approaching their house. It was Hope! He didn't know why she was back so soon, but he was glad to see her. He ran out to hug her, careful not to get anything from his sandwich on her fur. 

"Hey, Pacie. I can't stay long, I forgot my purse." she said.

Pace nodded, trying not to look disappointed, and popped the last piece of his sandwich into his mouth. He walked out into the yard to play under one of the trees, and sighed. He gave a start of surprise as something small and hard bounced off his head, and he bent down to inspect the object. It was an acorn. He picked it up, turning it over in his paw. Looking up into the branches, Pace saw a little grey squirrel watching him with great curiosity. The squirrel cocked its head, and Pace imitated the gesture. An idea came to him, and he held the acorn above his head and near the tree trunk. '_Here._' he thought.

Without hesitating, the squirrel scaled the tree upside-down and took the acorn without damaging the cub's paw. Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do, it hopped onto Pace's head and began happily gnawing at the acorn. Pace turned and sat with his back against the tree, moving slowly so as not to disturb the squirrel. It wasn't hurting him, so he saw no reason to dislodge it.

A moment later, however, the squirrel froze and quickly zipped up the trunk again.

"Hm?" Pace flicked an ear. He thought he heard the sound of a helicopter, but those had never come up this high before. The noise stopped, and Pace reached up to the squirrel again, trying to coax it back down. The squirrel was having none of it, and it twitched its tail as it began to scold; '_Chukchukchukchukchuk, chawww, chawww, chukchukchuk..._'

'_No, it's okay,_' Pace thought, looking sad, '_it's me...You know me..._'

But it soon became apparent that the squirrel wasn't scolding Pace. The cub heard someone say 'psssst' from the bushes that surrounded the yard, and he shielded his eyes to peer into the shadows. Much to his surprise, he saw a pair of yellow eyes peering back at him! He cocked his head inquisitively, and stayed right where he was.

"Come here." Beastly whispered.

Pace frowned, and shook his head. He didn't know who this was, but he knew better than that.

"Come on..." Beastly pleaded, "I have some jellybeans for you. See?" he held up a paper bag and shook it to prove that it wasn't empty.

Pace shook his head again, and folded his arms. He didn't even like jellybeans, but that was beside the point. He didn't know who this...person...was, and there was no way he would go to him without his parents' consent. Hadn't he learned early on that strangers were bad news?

"I don't have time for this!" Beastly griped, emerging from the bushes and beckoning. "No Heart'll punish me if you don't come..."

Pace went wide-eyed at that name; apparently he recognized it. He shook his head and pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth to form the word no, but he remained silent as ever.

Neither of them noticed as the squirrel bounded down from the tree and ran towards the kitchen window. It was open, but the screens were in, and Hope gave a surprised shriek when she saw a squirrel clinging to the screen and staring in at her. "Shoo...go away." she moved to scare it, not wanting it to damage the screen and enter the house, but then she saw something that made her blood run cold. Beastly was slowly approaching her brother, making 'come here' motions and speaking quietly so as not to be heard. "Mom!"

* * *

Beastly froze when the back door opened, and lioness and liger came running. Hope grabbed Pace by the arm and propelled him behind her, and Regal Heart laid back her ears and lashed her tail as she stood in front of both ligers. 

"How _dare_ you come near my son?" she demanded in a low rasp that Pace had never heard.

"Hey, we've all got a living to make." Beastly held up his hands and took a step backwards. "You help the humans, and I try to stop ya. Just what are you doing up here anyway? Too _useless_ to do your job?"

"Excuse me?" Regal glared. Pace glared too. Where did this _creature_ get off, talking to his mother like that?

"Sure, everyone else is down on Earth doing _their_ job, and you just sit up here doing nothing. At least _I_ do what I'm _supposed_ to do, not sitting on my tail all day!" Beastly retorted. "Or maybe you're too _stupid_ to help the humans!"

That was the last straw. Pace yanked his paw out of his sister's and stepped into view once more, his cheeks flaming scarlet beneath the fur. It was one thing for people to talk about _him_, but it was another for some total stranger to put his mother down like that. He knew she stayed at home more than the others to take care of her cubs, so that they could be good Care Bear Cousins and do their job. What did this _thing_ know about her? Nothing! He opened his mouth, and this time there was no difficulty whatsoever. The words poured from his mouth as easily as if he had been talking all his life. "My dad says, 'If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all'..."

Regal gasped, her anger forgotten. Hope went wide-eyed and wondered if she had really heard it, or if she had just imagined it. When Pace spoke again, however, it was obvious that it wasn't her imagination.

"But my dad's not here, and you're a _weenie!_" Pace finished triumphantly, pointing an accusing finger at Beastly.

"You little brat..." Beastly grumbled, drawing Regal's attention once more.

"Dodge." said Regal, smiling sweetly.

"Dodge what?" Beastly blinked in confusion. He regretted asking her when her smile tightened into a sneer. That was never a good sign.

"Dodge _this!_" she barked, knocking him backwards with a Call. That was all the incentive he needed, and he beat it out of there. Regal didn't pursue him. She turned to Pace, and caught him up in a tight embrace. "Why, Pace? If you could talk, why didn't you say anything before? When did you learn?"

Pace shrugged his shoulders; he was surprised himself. He had never been so angry before, and when he opened his mouth and didn't think about it, the words just came on their own. He remembered how he had practiced the different sounds when he was alone in his room, remembered that he had done this for hours and hours, and how he had known that he _could_ speak if he really wanted to. He would explain it to her, his reasons for staying silent, when he was older and understood it better himself. He opened his mouth, unsure if he would be able to do it again, but he felt a swell of pride as he said haltingly, "Prac-tice..."

"Ooh!" Regal hugged him again, causing him to go a bit cross-eyed, "Wait until I tell your father! And the others! I'll arrange a dinner party at the Hall of Hearts."

Hope smirked, and said, "I expect 'humble pie' will be on the menu..."

_The End_


End file.
